Mother to Mother - Abiturvorbereitung PDF

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Summary

The story of Amy Biehl´s murder. The mother of the murderer writes this long letter to the mother of the victim....

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Mother to Mother – Abiturvorbereitung I. II. III.

Plot Themes Historical context

I. Plot (in chapters): (1) Mandisa´s lament: Mandisa addresses the mother of the dead Girl directly saying that she had lost control over her first son years ago. She isn´t shocked about the crimes of her son because she knows that he (or his friends) could easily kill someone. She thinks that the girl was naïve in her commitment to helping others by ignoring the danger of the township. Mxolisi is in jail now and lives a better live than before because of the supply he gets there. In the end she pleas to God to forgive her son´s sin.

(2) Mowbray – Wednesday 25th August 1993: Mandisa imagines the girl´s last morning alive getting to the university and taking the black people to Guguletu. She describes how she left from home to get to work that day. Mxolisi joined a group of his friends and tried to convince Reverend Mananga to let them meet in the church of Guguletu. The Mananga refuses but then quickly caves and allows them to meet there the next day because the group shouted “Reactionary!”. He and his group of friends were wandering around the town passing a burning car and the police station. At the end Mxolisi and the group faced a crowd swarming a small car.

(3) 5.15 pm – Wednesday 25th August 1993: Mandisa compares her hard live with the life of her employer Mrs. Nelson, a white woman. Mandisa was driven by Mrs. Nelson to a bus stop close to Guguletu. As she reached Guguletu with the bus, the driver yelled that the city was surrounded by police. Meanwhile Mandisa reflected on her youth and how she was dumped from Blouvlei in Guguletu where she was living in little shacks between stranger people. She realized that her life in Blouvlei was better which she really misses. Back on the bus the people were speculating about what could have happened. A young man says that he saw in the area of Mandisa´s home how students were attacked and how their car was set on fire. She prayed to god to keep her children, especially Mxolisi, safe. She walked home through the swarming streets, where she even lost a shoe in the big crowd.

(4) 7.30 pm: She arrives at home realizing that only her daughter Siziwe and her son Lunga are at home. She is concerned about Mxolisi. At 7:45 pm the neighbour knocks on the door. Mandisa then gets to know that a white woman was killed in the city. She knows that killing a white woman will lead to much trouble for the black people. She wonders that people are not only committing violence against neighbours but also against white women. At the end of the chapter, she gets to know that the crime happened in her street and that the woman was killed with a knife.

(5) Chapter five: Mandisa addresses the mother of the victim again wondering why the (white) girl was in Guguletu at all. She then tells how she ended up in Guguletu. She got to knew that she will be relocating on a Friday after she helped her mother bottling ginger beer. Then on a Sunday a few months later an airplane dropped white sheets saying that Blouvlei will be relocated next month. Early in the morning on September 1 st bulldozers and military vehicles destroyed and burned down the houses of Blouvlei. Her mother and father tried to save what they could. After that they started to march to their new home in Guguletu. Even the women went to work leaving the children at home alone. Back in the present, in 1993, neither Mxolisi nor her Husband Dwadwa have returned home. After getting ready for her bed, she reflects on all the violence that has been occurring in her neighbourhood for years. Dwadwa asked her where Mxolisi could be and warns her that he will bring her big trouble. She briefly addresses the mother again wondering if her girl did not learn at school that Guguletu is a dangerous place for white people. She reflects in bed the brutality which increased the last years not only against white but also against black people. They stoned cars and necklaced their own (black) people. The reason for that was mostly to fight against the apartheid government. (6) 4 am – Thursday 26th August 1993: Mandisa woke up early in the morning hearing car doors closing. She thought that Mxolisi arrived by car. But then her house is surrounded by police officers. Dwadwa wanted to open the door but the police broke in before they had a chance to open. They pulled her into the kitchen asking her where Mxolisi is but Mandisa did not had a clue. The white policeman slapped her because she di not knew where he was. The police dismantled the house and beat up Lunga. Mandisa knew that they won´t live a live anymore they had before.

(7) Chapter seven: Mandisa briefly address the mother again explaining that Mxolisi had caused her so much trouble in her life. Then she talks about her past and how she was sent to her grandmother to avoid getting pregnant. A new boy called “China” began at her school after she broke up her relationship with her friends Nono and Stella. She secretly began to date China so that her mother does not know it. Her mother prevented her from getting pregnant always checking if she still is a virgin. Mandisa started to get in touch with China without having sex. Her mother was so strict that she sent her to Mandisa’s grandmother against her will. Her grandmother is a kind and gentle woman but that aside Mandisa started to miss China after staying at Gungulululu for 3 months already. One day a letter arrived from Mandisa’s aunt Funiwe that she will visit Mandisa and her grandmother. As Funwie saw Mandisa she asked if she is pregnant. At that moment Mandisa realized she did not have her period for three months until now. She assured that she never had sex with China or somebody else, but she still was pregnant. Mandisa gets depressed because she did not want to bring shame on her family, but her mother does not see her as an innocent victim. (8) Chapter eight: At the begin of the chapter she addresses the mother again and explains that she is now called names like “mother of the beast” after Mxolisi killed the girl. Back at the flashback Mandisa´s mother takes her back to Cape Town full of anger, disappointment and pain. Mandisa is under house arrest avoiding seeing her father.

Mandisa gave some passing school children a letter to contact China. A moment after that China appears by himself through the backdoor without receiving the letter. He accused her of having sex with someone else and that she does not want to admit it. He shouts at her and then she collapsed. But instead of helping her he just watches her struggling to the bottom telling her that he has a scholarship somewhere else. He escaped from the house and jumped over the fence leaving her back more devastated than before. As she is pregnant for six months Chinas and Mandisa’s family meets each other to discuss about their future. Mandisa give birth just three months before she gets married witch China. As she gave birth, she firstly hated her baby but then ´forgives´ him (Mxolisi). A few days after she gave birth, her father acknowledged her baby and called Mandisa his daughter again. The marriage happens without a ceremony and Mandisa is forced to move into China´s home. Her Mother cared for Mandisa´s son and started to love him. China`s relatives are forcing to change Mandisa´s and Mxolisi´s names. She was always fighting with China about their situation and one time he said that she could have gotten an abortion. Mandisa got visited by her parents which realized that she was getting thinner and thinner which made them worry about her. Mandisa asked China´s father twice to let her go to school again but he refused two times (money reasons & Mxolisi is too young). After Mxolisi got two years old China disappeared so Mandisa was accused by China´s father that he left. Six months after China´s disappearance Mandisa rents a small shack for her and Mxolisi where Mxolisi grows fast with good abilities. At the age of four Mxolisi pointed at a wardrobe where two of his friends were hiding. The police searched for them and as soon as he exposed them the police shot them and Mxolisi got traumatized from that. One day her old friend Nono visited her and wanted to get Mandisa a new partner. During the marriage of Mandisa´s Brother and Nono she meets Lungile and slept with him. She had a son with him called Lunga which changed Mxolisi (started to wet his bed & started to speak after 2 years). Mxolisi asked for his real father and began to attend school where he was the top of his class. Lungile soon leaves Mandisa leaving her behind alone with two sons. Mxolisi stopped to go to school so he could go work to earn money. As his mother wished Mxolisi got back to school but radicalized in high school to a political student leader. Eventually, Mandisa gets married again with Dwadwa, with whom she had a third child, a daughter named Siziwe. Sometimes people came by to thank Mandisa for raising Mxolisi because he is an enemy of the apartheid government. (9) 6 am – Thursday 26th August 1993: Back in the present Mandisa is worried that Mxolisi is involved in the death of the white girl after the police left. Her neighbour came by to tell what the people on the street are saying (about Mxolisi and his family). Lunga had a few superficial injuries but Siziwe was shocked and emotionally devastated. After Mandisa brought Siziwe to bed she started crying and admitted that she saw Mxolisi hiding something in his shack. Dwadwa was preparing to go to work and Mandisa waited for Mxolisi to return. (10)Chapter ten: At the begin of the chapter Mandisa talks about the central events that occurred in the history of South Africa which her grandfather has told her. After a long nap Mandisa wakes up in the afternoon and her daughter says that Mxolisi has not returned yet. Siziwe overheard a conversation between Lunga and other boys and told

her mother that she believes that Mxolisi must do something with the death of the girl. After that Reverend Mananga arrived and left Mandisa a message to take a taxi to meet with Mxolisi. After she finally meets Mxolisi both started to cry and hug each other. He tells her that he is innocent but Mandisa asks him why they are accusing him if he is not guilty. He insists that he was not the only person throwing stones at the car but then she calls him a fool that there is the blood of her (the dead girl) thumb on his knife (because he stabbed her in the thumb). (11) Chapter eleven: Mandisa addresses the mother again talking about her anger and shame she is feeling. She is wondering how the people could criticize Mxolisi which were proud of him when he was a political activist against the apartheid government. Mandisa compares Mxolisi to a dog set out to attack an enemy, so that only the dog, not its handlers, are at risk but she also thinks about the girl which might had have a good life instead of coming to south Africa. Some time later Skonana and Qwati (her neighbours) visited her to consult her, and she started to realize that other understand her pain. She is thankful and appreciates her neighbours visit. (12) Chapter twelve: Mxolisi´s mother wonders what he had to live for and how dark his future looked. She imagines the afternoon of the day he killed the girl. The murderer of the girl concludes the story and leads back to the beginning. II. Themes:  Apartheid and Colonialism  Decades of oppression and forced relocation, racist policies -> violence, revenge  Hatred, racism, necklacing, oppression -> black people were killing black people  Abuse, rape, discrimination -> radicalization  Slums, Ghettos, awful living conditions  White settlers and military expelled black people from their initial homes  Family, Tradition and Obligation:  Can be a burden and a blessing at the same time  Old traditions can hinder [the love of] young people (traditions, rules, rituals, personal preferences)  Family can help in difficult situations (money problems, childcaring, shelter, etc.)  Love and affection from family hatred, anger, scorn from the partners family  Forced marriages, no sex before marriage, a woman must care for the children, a man must work, etc.  Language, Storytelling and History:  Addressing from “mother to mother” -> shared experience, surpass cultural & social barriers  Opportunity to reveal guilt and remorse, framing monologue as a conversation -> consider the tragedy from both sides  Both women are bound by shared experience of grief and sorrow  Songs and chants (“AmaBhulu, azizinja!”-> “boers (whites), they are dogs”)  Grandfather´s stories about South African history (Nongqawuse, Apaartheid, Colonialism, etc.)

III. Historical Context: Portuguese traders first began to explore the coastline of South Africa in the 1400s, but Europeans did not begin to colonize the area until 1600s, when the Dutch East India Company created permanent settlements at what is now Cape Town. The settlements were a port to help passing ships on their way to Asia, but colonization expanded as greater infrastructure was required to serve said ships. Over time, the colony expanded along the coast and inland, with white colonists killing and enslaving (or forcing into indentured servitude) black Africans as they encountered them. Eventually British settlers also arrived, initially only interested in the Cape as a strategic port, but eventually going to war against Boers (or Dutch South Africans), officially taking control of South Africa in 1909. If white Europeans had been in South Africa, black Africans were forced to endure racism and discrimination. This was formally written into law in the mid-1880s, and further formalized in 1948— the beginning of the fifty-year apartheid which denied civil and human rights to all black South Africans....